Better Nuclear Reactors

Tenshi · Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 2594 Location: Star Stuff

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/03/11/plutonium-bombs.html

You know, maybe it's not the end-all for safe nuclear fuel, but it's a step in the proper direction (IMO).

Ten bucks says Tam gave them the idea. Wink

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Tamir · Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 1628 Location: Israel

I well may end up working at Israel's nuclear power plant in a few months, but as of yet, I have no connection to this. Can I have those ten bucks? Very Happy

(Excellent research, though. Nuclear power is something we should really be promoting right now, and this would make life a lot harder for those who would misuse it. Thanks for pointing out the article!)

Nem · Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 2112 Location: England

If people produce their own materials then I don't really see that this is going to stop them from using them to create a weapon; and if they're restrained from producing their own materials then it will probably be seen as a way for the West and its allies to continue their economic dominance through acquiring control of the energy resources of the relevant countries.

's interesting though.
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Tinalles · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:12 am Post subject:

I'm really hoping somebody comes up with a break-through to make fusion practical. I mean, if we can get it to work right, it puts out a ton of power, and its byproducts are actually more stable than they were when they went into the reactor. The reactor itself would be so radioactive it would glow in the dark, but it would also have a comparatively short half life. In a few hundred years it'd be safe again, which is substantially easier to deal with than tens of thousands.

But, barring that breakthrough, it's not going to work any time soon. Ah well. We'll probably end up with a cocktail of all kinds of stuff -- solar, wind, wave, biofuels, fission reactors, etc etc.
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